God’s Plan
Introduction
1. Illustration: Pastor and author Max Lucado said, “The purpose of the Bible? Salvation. God’s highest passion is to get his children home. His book, the Bible, describes his plan of salvation. The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim God’s plan and passion to save his children.”
2. Great leaders have a plan. They have a plan to make things grow, and they have a plan when things go horribly wrong.
3. God had a plan for humankind, but we messed it up. But God had a plan to fix it, and from Genesis 4 through the end of Revelation shows that plan revealed and developed.
4. Today we are going to look at God’s plan for us. We are going to talk about:
a. God’s plan revealed.
b. God’s promise delivered.
5. Read Eph. 1:9-14
Proposition: When we messed up God’s plan by sinning, God set up a plan to make us right with him again.
Transition: First, let’s look at…
I. God’s Plan Revealed (9-10).
A. Revealed to Us His Mysterious Will
1. Paul had been praising God for his wonderful kindness. Now he changes gears and praises God for his plan of salvation.
2. In v. 9 he says, “God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.”
a. God’s plan is referred to by Paul as being revealed, which means to make visible that which had been hidden, and it was made clear at the death and resurrection of Christ.
b. His plan was to bring people back into a right relationship with himself. Ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden God had a plan to fix it.
c. Paul calls this secret plan “mysterious,” and Paul wants us to know that this mystery has now become plain for all to see. And this was all to God’s good pleasure.
d. You can almost see God fist pumping someone and saying, “Yes!”
3. Then Paul describes what this plan entailed. In v. 10 he says, “And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.”
a. He says that God revealed his plan at the right time. We think that God’s a little slow in bringing his plan about, but God’s timing is always perfect.
b. So, what way his plan? Paul says it was to bring everything together...The phrase “bring everything together “refers to the management of a household or an estate.”
c. In this context, it’s talking about the running of a large company. So, God’s plan was not something that was done willy nilly, but God had a detailed plan to make us right with him again.
d. That plan was to bring everything together under the authority of Christ. What Adam and Eve had done with their disobedience, making creation fragmented and chaotic, Christ was now going to restore and bring together.
e. What Adam and Eve broke, God was now going to fix in the person of Jesus Christ.
f. This does not mean that God is going to save everybody, but rather only those who choose to accept and believe in Christ.
g. In the end, every knee will bow to Christ, but for some it will be too late. They will be doing so because they have to and not because they choose to.
4. In v. 11 Paul says, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”
a. Up until now, Paul had been speaking to Jews and Gentiles, but now he is differentiating between the two groups.
b. When he used the pronoun “we” he is referring to Jewish believers, and when he uses the pronoun “you” he is referring to Gentiles.
c. While all believers are united in Christ, the Jews were still God’s chosen people, and he wanted them to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah.
d. They had received an inheritance from God that would ultimately be accomplished in Jesus Christ and brought to completion at the end of time.
e. It was God’s plan for the entire world to have salvation made available to them through the Jews.
f. But, again, this does not mean that all Jews would be saved, but rather only those who accepted Jesus.
g. Because God controls everything, he carries out his plan according to his purpose and will, bringing it to completion in his time.
B. When the Right Time Came
1. Illustration: There is a new pastor in Atlanta named Mason Betha. He recently celebrated his one-year anniversary pasturing a church of about 100. But Reverend Mason hasn’t always been a pastor. He was formerly known as the rapper Ma$e, “the flashiest and most pleasure driven performer on… the Bad Boy record label.” His transition from bad to good was rather abrupt. He didn’t switch to gospel music or gospel rap—he left the music industry. He broke with friends and associates and gave away lots of the possessions that shaped his persona: a Range Rover, a BMW, a Mercedes convertible, and a diamond encrusted Rolex worth more than most American homes. He also left a huge contract with Bad Boy Entertainment and Arista Records. There was no great “emotional experience.” Mason says of his turn around: “I was just sitting in a hotel and decided I can’t do this no more. People be looking for this big explanation. But when it’s God’s time, it’s God’s time.” Are you looking for some rock bottom experience or emotional high before you make your turn around. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Psalm 95:8). When it’s God’s time, it’s God’s time.
2. God has a plan, and a right time to reveal that plan, for all of us. The question is will we accept it?
a. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Gal. 4:4-5, NLT).
b. God has a right time and a right plan for all of us.
c. For me it was on April 4, 1978 at a Christian rock concert when he revealed himself to me in a miraculous way.
d. I had a choice that night; I could accept his offer of salvation or I could go my own way.
e. God’s plan for me that night was to give me a future and a hope.
f. My way would have eventually led to destruction, both in this life and the next.
g. God’s plan led to eternal life; my way led to eternal damnation.
h. God has a plan for you too! Are you willing to accept it?
i. Are you willing to accept God’s free offer of salvation, not because of what you have done, but because of what Jesus has done for you?
j. Are you willing to say yes to Jesus, or will you choose a road which leads to eternal death?
k. If you have not accepted Jesus as your savior, today is your day when he reveals his plan for you. What are you going to do?
Transition: Next, Paul talks about…
II. God’s Promise Delivered (11-14).
A. By Giving You His Holy Spirit
1. But salvation was not for the Jews only. So, Paul says in v. 13, “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”
a. Paul now changes his emphasis from the Jews to the Gentile believers, and he reminds them of their conversion when they “also heard the word of truth, the Good News that God saves you.”
b. They had as a mark of identification the Holy Spirit living in their lives. By giving believers the Holy Spirit, God “seals” or “stamps” them as his own possession (Bruce, 295).
c. “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.” (Rom 8:9-10, NLT).
d. The Holy Spirit fills us with a sense of God’s love, assures us that God has adopted us as his children, and helps us to become more like Christ.
e. In the OT, the Holy Spirit was only given to prophets, priests and kings. But God promised in Joel 2:28-29:
f. “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.”
g. Jesus also confirmed that the promise of the Father was coming, and that his disciples should wait in Jerusalem “until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven” (Lk. 24:49).
h. And then on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came just as he had been promised.
i. When we receive the Holy Spirit at conversion it is the true sign that we have become united in Christ.
2. Paul continues his statement on the Holy Spirit in our lives in v. 14 when he says, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
a. The word guarantee was used in Paul’s day to describe a down payment, promising that the purchaser would complete the transaction and pay for the product in full, and the guarantee was legally binding.
b. So, the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you is God’s guarantee that you are paid in full! He is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised.
c. He is the first of all the treasures that will be ours because God has purchased us to be his own people.
d. The Holy Spirit shows that God’s power is now inside us and transforming us now, and what we experience now is just a taste of what’s to come!
B. Promise of Pentecost
1. Illustration: "During the mighty movements of the Holy Spirit in the Moody-Sankey meetings in Dublin, the worldly father of C.T. Studd was gloriously saved. He invited some of his worldly companions to come to his home so that he could tell them the wonderful news. When one wealthy English sportsman arrived at the railway station he was met by the coachman. He could not wait till he got to the house to know what had happened to his old friend, so he began to question the coachman. ’I hear that something remarkable has happened to your master. I hear he’s got religion. Please tell me about it. In what way is Mr. Studd changed?’ ’Oh,’ said the Irish coachman, ’It’s a revolution. In one sense he is still the same man--he’s in the same body. But the best way I can explain him is he’s a new man in the old skin.’ The new creature receives a new set of appetites and a new set of attitudes. The babe in Christ has now a holy nature with a propensity toward holiness. The things he used to hate, now he loves and the things he used to love, now he hates."
2. When we accept Jesus into our lives, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us and begins to change us into new people.
a. “and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.” (2 Cor. 1:22, NLT).
b. When we give our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives too, and he begins to change us from the inside out. We call this regeneration.
c. He begins to change our desires.
d. He begins to change our attitudes.
e. He begins to change our feelings.
f. He even begins to change our thoughts.
g. The things that we once saw as important don’t seem to matter anymore.
h. The sins that once ruled our lives are no longer enticing to us.
i. The reason for all of this is that the Holy Spirit is reforming us and making us new people in Christ!
j. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17, NLT)
Conclusion
1. Great leaders have a plan. They have a plan to make things grow, and they have a plan when things go horribly wrong.
2. God had a plan for humankind, but we messed it up. But God had a plan to fix it, and from Genesis 4 through the end of Revelation shows that plan revealed and developed.
3. Today we looked at God’s plan for us. We talked about:
a. God’s plan revealed.
b. God’s promise delivered.
4. What’s the point? God has a plan for all of mankind, more specifically, God has a plan for you. He wants to give you a future and a hope. He wants to change you into a new person. He wants to give you eternal life. He is giving you an invitation, and he is awaiting your reply.
